What is a server? Correspondingly what makes a computer a server?

A server is nothing more than a computer. It has a hard drive, a cpu, memory and all of the things you will generally find in a home computer. Your home computer can be a server if you want it to be. A server by definition is just a computer which serves other computers. A web hosting server is nothing more than a computer which serves web pages to the computers requesting them; i.e., to the person running the internet browser. So while in the generalist sense every computer can be a server; correspondingly what makes a computer a good server?

A web hosting server is a server set up to perform web hosting tasks quickly and efficiently. A web hosting server does not need pretty graphics because typically it runs by itself without input from a person. It is essentially (after you set it up) fully automated. And unless it is necessary, it doesn’t have a monitor. (Of course like all things it needs maintenance from a qualified professional from time to time to ensure it is running efficiently).

A good web hosting server does have a few characteristics that make it different from a normal home computer. One of the characteristics is redundancy. Typically, a server has multiple hard drives which store the data. With a multiple hard drive system data is saved on more than one hard drive so in the event of a hard drive failure the redundant drive takes over exactly where the first hard drive failed. This process is known as RAID. Another redundancy you will find is that some servers will also have multiple network access cards (for faster input and output) and two power sources. The name of the game with servers is *reliability*.

Provided by http://www.e3servers.com/